The Witchtower is being more careful now about putting a date
out there for the beginning of the Great Tribulation. I think that
they have learned their lesson from 1975. However they sure
like to throw the word "soon" around. Every meeting and almost
every prayer it is mentioned that soon God will destroy his enemies.
The meaning of this word is different to a Witness versus a non-Witness.
I saw a quote from an article in the Watchtower from 30 years ago
that said that God's kingdom would SOON usher in a paradise earth.
To a Witness it was soon then and this event is still soon. If I were to tell
my wife excitedly that I am taking her to Europe soon would she be happy
if I waited 3 years? How about 20 years? She would be upset and call be a liar.
If I told my boss at work that I was going to quit my job soon would he wait
6 months to start finding a replacement? How about 20 years? He would call me a liar.
If my wife told the elders at the KH that she was going to start pioneering soon,
would they expect her to do so in several months or wait 20 years? They would say
that she lied to them. The Watchtower should say instead of SOON, in God's due time,
sometime in the future, when God is ready, however that doesn't sound very urgent.
We are God's children. What would your child think if you told them that you will take
you to Disney World soon. What would soon mean to them? My guess is if not
this year then next year at the latest. I doubt that they would be happy if soon was
20 years later. I guess that soon does not have a starting point nor an ending
point, just an awareness that it is soon.
Sour Grapes